Steele: GOP needs ‘hip-hop’ makeover  —  NEWSMAKER INTERVIEW:  —  Newly elected Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele plans an “off the hook” public relations offensive to attract younger voters, especially blacks and Hispanics, by applying the party's principles to “urban-suburban hip-hop settings.”

Greed is Not a Defense  —  I found Ezra Klein's defense of Politico to be pretty weak stuff.  —  Ezra's main point is that coverage that's utterly trivial and that poisons public understanding of crucial issues that effect the lives of billions of people is rewarded by the market …

NYT settles with lobbyist on McCain story  —  A Washington lobbyist who said the New York Times implied she had an improper relationship with Sen. John McCain will drop her defamation lawsuit against the newspaper, which today said it never intended that readers conclude the two were having an affair.

Spokesman for embattled Sen. Burris resigns  —  (CNN) — A spokesman for Illinois Sen. Roland Burris resigned Thursday in the wake of new disclosures about requests that Burris raise money for disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich while seeking a U.S. Senate appointment.

Budget to kick off health care rewrite  —  At the end of the day last Wednesday, Obama aides and a handful of Senators hashed out the details of a $787 billion spending package in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office.  —  Larry Summers, the architect of the plan, was no longer in the room …

Rep. Cao Faces Potential Recall Petition For Toeing GOP Line And Voting Against The Stimulus  —  Earlier this month, New Orleans's new congressman Joseph Cao (R) stated that he would vote for the economic recovery package.  “I believe that more likely than not, I will vote …

Chimp Cartoon Makes Murdoch a Chump  —  Well, yes, it would require quite a contortion to find that Rupert Murdoch's New York Post had not compared the first black president to a monkey in an editorial cartoon.  —  Now, it is true that the Post has a certain vernacular involving public figures …

Manufacturing Guilt?  —  Editor's Note: The following article contains graphic and disturbing photographs and video excerpts of an examination conducted on the body of a 23-month-old girl.  The images are the basis of claims that forensic experts fabricated evidence in a case that put a man on death row …

RNC chair plans ‘off the hook’ campaign, tells critics to ‘stuff it’  —  (CNN) — Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele says his party is going to launch an “off the hook” public relations campaign that will update the GOP's image by translating it to “urban-suburban hip-hop settings.”

Democrats strike different tone on Katrina  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  WASHINGTON - The economic stimulus signed by President Barack Obama will spread billions of dollars across the country to spruce up aging roads and bridges.

Google Earth Shows U.S. Drones at Pakistani Base?  —  Don't take a Senator's word for it.  Old Google Earth satellite photos, dug up by the News of Pakistan, show U.S. drones, parked on a Pakistani runway, back in 2006.  —  The paper ID's the robotic planes as massive Global Hawk drones — unlikely, the shape's all wrong.

The RAT hiding deep inside the stimulus bill  —  The far-reaching — and potentially dangerous — provision that no one knows about.  —  You've heard a lot about the astonishing spending in the $787 billion economic stimulus bill, signed into law this week by President Barack Obama.

Iran holds enough uranium for bomb  —  Iran has now built up a stockpile of enough enriched uranium for one nuclear bomb, United Nations officials acknowledged on Thursday.  —  In a development that comes as the Obama administration is drawing up its policy on negotiations with Tehran …

Valenti's Sexuality Was Topic For FBI  —  Under Pressure, LBJ Let Hoover's Agents Investigate Top Aide  —  When Beltway insider Jack Valenti died two years ago at age 85, he was playing the role of intermediary between Washington and Hollywood as the theatrical, snowy-haired president of the Motion Picture Association of America.

Do you mind if I rant a minute?  —  Here's my position on what ended the Great Depression: I don't know.  There are a whole lot of theories out there, but with an “n” of 1, no overwhelming evidence in favor of any of them.  There are a few that I think most economists agree are not true …

Republicans urge Obama to overturn stem cell ban  —  (CNN) - A group of six moderate House Republicans have written to President Obama urging him to lift President Bush's ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.  —  “We are writing to respectfully urge that you immediately lift …

Kill “Qwerty”!  (Guest Voice)  —  FOR GOD'S SAKE, THIS IT THE 21ST CENTURY - LET'S GET RID OF “QWERTY”!!  —  by Marc Pascal  —  Why do computers still have keyboards?  They represent a quaint vestige of their predecessor typewriters that were invented 130 years ago.

Take a stand, Mr. Tedisco  —  Sometime between now and an election tentatively set for March 31, James Tedisco has to take a stand on the $787 billion economic stimulus that Congress passed last week and President Obama just signed into law.  —  How else can the voters of the 20th Congressional …

Drudge Report Showcases the Least Sympathetic Populist Rage Ever  —  Rick Santelli and a bunch of traders are furious!  They are outraged at Barack Obama's crazy mortgage plan which will maybe stave off a couple foreclosures.  [Update: New video with the best of Rick's rage!]

Wholesale inflation takes biggest jump in 6 months  —  Wholesale inflation jumps by largest amount in 6 months, reflecting higher energy costs  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Inflation at the wholesale level surged unexpectedly in January, reflecting sharply higher prices for gasoline and other energy products.

Budget plan goes to Schwarzenegger after Legislature's OK  —  The deal is done.  —  The California Legislature voted early today to approve a massive budget package of tax increases, spending cuts and borrowing to close a $40 billion deficit after granting major concessions to one holdout Republican senator.

Obama Plans Indefinite Military Detention of Terrorism Suspects  —  Last month I worried about Attorney General Eric Holder's declaration at his confirmation hearing that “we are at war” with terrorists, noting that such language has often been used to justify legal shortcuts and abridgements of civil liberties.

Here we go again ...  Politico's Glenn Thrush, seeing a news report that Hillary Clinton said she likes the Rolling Stones and the Beatles, “decided to fact-check.”  —  What would make him decide to fact-check the unremarkable statement by a baby boomer that she likes the two most popular band …